Spark of the Soul
by FantomoDrako
Summary: Kokoro is heart, mind, spirit and soul. A robot with kokoro has emotions and thinks for itself. But...is that all there is to it? Post 2003 Astro-centered.
1. The Daily Grind

**Chapter One: The Daily Grind**

The city was a sight to behold at night. Anyone who had never visited before would be astounded by all the lights and tall buildings, and a country person would more than likely become hopelessly lost in the sprawling maze of streets and alleyways that made up Metro City. The only downside to this splendour was that the city's lights drowned out the stars almost to the point of invisibility.

Though his eyes could see all of this, his mind didn't register it very well as it was pondering something else. Astro frowned slightly as he flew beneath an arch. He was simply flying around, ready to step into a situation if he spotted one.

Thanks to Dr. O'Shay, robots now had the same rights as humans; they were equals and friends, just as Astro had always dreamed. Still, the young robot couldn't keep his mind from drifting to thoughts of the Blue Knight, Shadow and all of Robotonia. _'Where are they now? Have they found somewhere to live and, if so, are they happy?'_ His musings were interrupted as a voice hailed him.

"Hey, Astro, what brings you out here?"

Astro turned his head as the owner of the voice drew level with him. It was a green-eyed robot covered in bright red armour. "Oh, hey, Atlas! Not much, I just felt like flying. What about you, how are things going with Tokugawa?"

"A lot better than they used to, but it's slow going. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea of us getting along like we used to," Atlas admitted a touch wistfully.

Astro smiled brightly at his friend. "It'll get easier if you keep at it."

Atlas nodded slightly and the two continued in silence, flying with no destination. The noise of the city reached their sensitive ears, the hum of hover vehicles and voices becoming a familiar background buzz.

Atlas slowed down before coming to a complete halt. "I have a few things to take care of. I'll catch you around some other time," he said, giving a brief wave and flying off.

Sighing softly, Astro watched his friend disappear with a sad look in his deep brown eyes. Atlas was probably the only one that could fully understand Astro due to their creator and early treatment. The only difference was that Astro had learned to forgive and move on while Atlas was still discovering how.

Astro shied away from thinking about Dr. Tenma. The sheer madness the man had shown down in old Laboratory Seven had shaken Astro to the core. He had forgiven Tenma, but he doubted that he could ever forget all that had transpired. Astro had not told Dr. O'Shay all that had happened. He was not sure why, but it felt like a personal issue between Tenma and himself that no others needed to know the full extent of.

'_Speaking of Dr. O'Shay, I bet he's wondering where I am,'_ Astro thought with a slight grimace. He didn't like leaving the doctor with his little sister; Zoran had the ability to twist the old man around her pinkie. _'I wish Zoran didn't throw a tantrum every time someone tells her "no". The doctor gives in to her so often because he says "no" and can't stick to it when Zoran starts crying. I suppose he thought Nora might help control her, but poor Nora can't keep up!'_

Shaking his head at the inner workings of his strange family, Astro veered to one side and altered his course until he was heading home. It did not take long until he landed in front of the familiar house and walked up to the front door. It slid open immediately, granting him entry, and Astro stepped inside, his ears being assaulted by Zoran's voice the instant his foot touched the floor.

"Oh, my circuits, I'm surprised they haven't fried yet!" Nora wailed mechanically as she floated into the main room.

"Nora, what's going on?" Astro called, running over to the frazzled robot.

Nora stopped and faced her elder charge, relief almost emanating in palpable waves from her yellow, metal body. "Astro, thank goodness you're here! Zoran has locked herself in the kitchen, making a 'special treat' for Dr. O'Shay. The doctor and I have tried to open the door, but she must have done something to it from her side. Doctor O'Shay is trying to fix the door now," Nora explained quickly, getting behind Astro and chivvying him to the kitchen.

'_Oh, no, I hope she hasn't totally wrecked the kitchen!'_ Astro thought in dismay. Jogging further up the hallway, he saw Dr. O'Shay with his nose stuck in front of a panel, examining it closely.

"Oh, Astro, could you give me a hand?" the old man asked. "I've tried to talk to her and get her to come out, but she's being very stubborn. Do you think you could convince her to come out before the kitchen becomes unrecognisable?"

Astro nodded, but he knew it would be no use. _'Dr. O'Shay created her; you'd think she would listen to him more than she does…'_ Taking a deep breath, despite the fact that he had no need for oxygen, Astro rapped his knuckles lightly on the door. "Zoran, what are you doing in there?"

"Big brother, I'm glad you're back! I'm making something really special and now you can try some too!" an enthusiastic, feminine voice replied, muffled slightly by the door.

'_How can I try some if I don't eat?'_ was Astro's wry thought. "You haven't made another mega-mess in there, have you?" he asked, putting on his 'big brother' voice of authority.

"No," she answered. "There's a bit of flour on me and the counter, but the rest is clean!"

Astro sighed inaudibly. "No matter what we do or say, you're not gonna come out until you're done, are you?"

"That's right!" she cheerfully replied.

Dr. O'Shay shook his head and turned to Astro. "I can force the door open, but it will short out the power to the rest of the house. I guess we'll just have to let her be and hope that there won't be too much cleaning to do tomorrow," he said in a resigned tone. Sliding the cover back over the panel, the scientist retreated to have a shower, hoping the hot water would help him to relax.

The young robot watched his foster father go with a strange expression. _'And Zoran barrels over him again,'_ he thought, shaking his head and walking to his room. Slipping into his bedroom, Astro went over to the window and sat on the sill, staring out at the sky. He could hear Nora complaining downstairs, telling Zoran that she would have to clean up any mess she made as it would be her fault and Nora was tired of cleaning up after her. Astro didn't blame Nora. If Zoran got into trouble, it was always him that had to get her out of it. He loved his sister, but sometimes she was simply too much.

Feeling drained in a way that had nothing to do with his power cells, Astro crawled into bed and threw the covers over himself, not saying goodnight for once.

* * *

Birds were twittering away, chirping to each other before flying off to search for food. Someone was gently shaking his shoulder, softly calling his name. Astro had no desire to get out of bed today, he still felt drained. He groggily opened his eyes, Dr. O'Shay coming into focus in front of him. He blinked a couple of times to dispel the last lingering bits of blurriness from his optical sensors.

"Astro, thank goodness you're awake!" the doctor said with a sigh of relief. "Is something wrong, are you feeling unwell?"

At that question, Astro began to wonder if something was indeed wrong with him. He was unable to really check as he was not equipped to scan his own body. "I don't feel any different than usual," he answered, sitting up and pushing back the covers. He stood up and moved his body, checking that his arms and legs responded properly.

Dr. O'Shay observed Astro's movements closely, watching for any kind of malfunction. "Hmm, I can't see anything wrong. If you _do_ begin to feel strange, come to me right away and I'll check your circuits, okay?" he offered, still looking a touch worried.

"Sure thing," promised Astro.

"Well, as long as you're okay. I came up here when you didn't come down. If you hurry, you can still make it to school on time," he said, nodding to himself while keeping his eyes on Astro.

Astro's eyes widened as his mind processed the doctor's words. "What? You mean I actually slept in and it's almost time for school?! I don't wanna be late!" Astro cried, dashing to his closet and pulling out his school clothes. He grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head.

"Slow down, Astro, you're trying to put your shirt on backwards. You'll have enough time if you fly, I don't think anybody will mind if you fly all the way to class," O'Shay said with a chuckle as he watched his robot foster son rush around in the panic that only being late to school could induce in children.

Untangling himself from the confines of his shirt, Astro gave the doctor a sheepish grin and put it on the right way before digging around for his shorts.

"I'll leave you to it then," the scientist said, waving a hand briefly in Astro's direction and walking out of the bedroom.

'_I've never slept in before,'_ Astro thought as he pulled on his shorts. Lifting up his shirt, he opened his chest panel and stared at the readouts. Everything was perfectly normal. His internal temperature was fine and he could find no fault with any of his circuits. Frowning, he closed the panel with a sigh, grabbed his school bag and hurried downstairs. He threw a quick "Bye!" over his shoulder to O'Shay, Zoran and Nora and activated the rockets in his feet, jetting off in the direction his school was.

Flying past a clock, he noticed that, at his current speed, he would arrive at school with a few minutes to spare. Astro grinned in relief, hoping that the day would progress normally from this point on. Touching down in front of the school, Astro jogged up the stairs to his classroom, hailing Kennedy and Alejo once he was close enough for them to comfortably hear him. Both greeted him happily.

"Did something hold you up at home? You're always here earlier than this," Kennedy asked once they had entered the classroom. Astro was sitting at his desk and his two friends were standing beside it.

"No, there was no hold-up, I just left later than usual," he admitted. He wasn't lying; he just didn't want to tell them the whole truth in case they started to worry about him. "I hope there's nothing wrong with the kitchen when I get home, though…"

"The kitchen?" Alejo repeated inquiringly. "Why, what's wrong with your kitchen?"

"Nothing, I hope." Catching their stares, he elaborated. "Zoran locked herself in the kitchen last night to make something for Dr. O'Shay. I went to bed before Zoran finally came out and I left as soon as I got down the stairs, so I don't know what shape Zoran left the kitchen in."

"I remember the last time your little sister made something," Alejo said with a slight shiver running down his spine.

Kennedy nodded and said, "Yeah, it took nearly the whole day to clean up!"

Astro was about to form some sort of reply when he was interrupted by a loud voice. It did not take long for the owner of the voice to reach Astro's desk. "Hey, Abercrombie," Astro greeted, the other two quickly following with greetings of their own.

The school day passed with no mishaps, even though Abercrombie fell asleep at around two during a math lesson. Astro began to think that the incident that morning was a small, one-off occurrence. The boys didn't hang out after school, Ken and Alejo were busy. Abercrombie waved farewell and headed off, leaving Astro with nothing to do.

Astro started to walk home, dreading to find a mess that had yet to be cleaned up. _'Sometimes I don't feel like Zoran's brother, more like a parent. I have a new level of respect for parents, that's for sure.'_

Metro City was a hive of hustle and bustle. No matter where one looked, there was always something going on; people going about their business or robots working. Metro City was a place where both humans and robots co-existed. Things between them had not always gone smoothly, but everyone was living more peacefully since the declaration that robots were equals. Of course there would always be people who hated robots, but those few could not find much support among the rest of the city anymore.

Nearly everyone that Astro walked past smiled or waved at him or greeted him. Astro didn't know who they were, but he deeply appreciated even the smallest happy smile aimed his way. The people of Metro City regarded him as a hero, but he didn't see himself that way. It was nice to get thanks for something good that you did, but Astro would do something good even if he was hated for it, it's just who he was.

Dr. Tenma had tried to turn Astro into something he wasn't and had failed; now spending time in prison for all of his crimes. Astro had yet to visit him and wasn't sure if he could. He knew that if he saw Tenma again, all of his old and new memories would clash inside him. He may have forgiven the mad scientist, but he had yet to deal with everything properly.

A new looking sports model zip-car went zooming past over the speed limit. It didn't hit anything, though its slipstream knocked many things over. A woman cried out as her hat was sent flying in the car's wake, well out of her reach.

Quickly spinning in place, Astro locked his eyes onto the zip-car, committing it to memory for Detective Tawashi. Even though no-one was hurt, it was still a crime to speed. Frowning at the inconsiderate and dangerous driver, Astro flew after the hat, easily catching up with it. He grabbed it and flew back to the lady, touching down on the sidewalk and offering her the retrieved hat. "Here you go," he said cheerily.

"Oh, thank you," she said with a smile, taking the hat and putting it back on after fixing up her windswept hair a little.

"No problem," Astro replied.

The lady gave him another grateful look before walking off. Astro, too, continued on his way, thankfully with no more interruptions. Reaching his house, he went inside and headed straight for the kitchen. The kitchen door slid up easily, so Zoran hadn't broken it. Peeking inside, Astro was relieved to see the room clean, completely free of flour or any other cooking ingredients.

The house was quiet, so Astro figured that Zoran had dragged Nora somewhere. He went over to the vid-phone and called the police. It did not take long for someone to pick up.

"Hello, Metro City police, how may I help you?" asked a bored-looking man. Glancing at the screen, the man caught sight of who was calling. "Oh, Astro, what can I do for you? Are you after Detective Tawashi?"

"Hello. Yes, I am. Can I talk to him?"

"Sure, I'll put you right through," the man said, looking quite enthusiastic now.

A moment of static was what the entire screen showed before the face of Detective Tawashi came into view. "Astro, is something wrong?"

"When I was walking home, a zip-car sped by going well over the speed limit. I thought you'd like to know," said Astro.

Tawashi gained a thoughtful expression. "A speeder, huh? None of the patrols have sighted him. Do have a picture of the car in question?"

Astro nodded and opened his chest panel. Pulling a wire out from the side of the vid-phone, he plugged it into his 'heart', searched through his memory bank for the recorded file and played it for the inspector. Once the playback finished, Astro unplugged the cord and closed his chest, waiting for the man to say something.

"Thanks for that, Astro, I'll get my men to find this guy right away before he hurts someone," Tawashi said, giving Astro a small nod of thanks and farewell before the signal was cut.

As he was now left with nothing to do, Astro sat on the couch and turned on the TV, flicking through the channels until he found one that looked mildly interesting. It was the least boring programme on, but it was not enough to hold Astro's attention. The young robot's eyes slowly closed as he dozed off.

This was how Zoran and Nora found him when they came home from wherever they had been.

Zoran, being naturally curious, sat beside her brother and poked him in the arm. Frowning at the lack of response, Zoran poked him harder a couple more times. Receiving no reaction, Zoran turned to Nora and shrugged while shaking her head. "It's like he's out of energy, but I can tell he isn't," she said, giving her brother a quizzical glance.

"We better get the doctor to examine him as soon as he comes home," Nora said, floating into the kitchen to prepare a meal for the doctor.

Zoran absently agreed with the caretaker robot, her eyes drawn to the abandoned remote control. Seeing as Astro wasn't watching anything, Zoran snatched the remote and took control of the TV. Zoran liked more shows than Astro did, so finding something she wanted to watch wasn't hard. She grinned like a cat that caught a canary. _'With my brother out like this, I can watch whatever I want!'_

It was a little over a half-hour before O'Shay arrived. He hung his jacket and hat on the hat stand and gave a weary sigh, glad to be able to put his feet up and relax. Yuko had been nagging him worse than ever to keep to his schedule for the entire day. The poor man had barely gotten a chance to eat lunch. Since he had rushed about following his schedule today, he was hoping that Yuko would ease off tomorrow.

Looking at the man in front of the door, Zoran hopped off the couch, bounced over to him and tugged on his sleeve.

"Oh, hello, is there something you want Zoran?" he said, glancing down and smiling fondly at the little robotic girl.

She shook her head and pointed at her brother's still form. "I think there's something wrong with Astro. He was like this when I got here and Nora said you should take a look at him. I poked him a few times, but nothing happened. I know he's not low on energy, so why is he like that?" Zoran explained while her sad and bewildered brown gaze locked firmly on O'Shay's face.

"Maybe he's simply been more tired than usual lately? I don't think he's been doing anything strenuous since his confrontation with Dr. Tenma," O'Shay said. _'Did Tenma do something to him down in Lab Seven? I arrived there only to see Astro hugging Tenma, so I have no idea if Tenma hit him with something that might be affecting him like a slow-acting disease; the symptoms showing one by one.'_

Worried, O'Shay took Zoran's place next to Astro on the couch. His hand was hovering over Astro's chest, about to open the panel, when Astro's eyes flickered open.

"Doctor?" Astro said softly, confusion clear in his voice.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Astro Boy. That honour belongs to Osamu Tezuka. May his memory live on!

**NOTE:** If you want to know when the next chapter is coming out, head to my profile and scroll down until you find the section '**Story Updates**'. I'll have my current progress posted there and I update it regularly.

**A/N:** My first Astro Boy fic. This is based just post-2003 series, so Robotonia's in space and robots have equal rights to humans. This first chapter is not really exciting, but it will pick up - I promise. The next chapter will also probably be longer as 3000 words is rather short for me. I'm also looking for a beta for my Astro Boy fics as I plan to write as many as I can. PM me if you're interested.

I aim to add as many fics as I can to the Astro Boy section. This fandom is sadly unloved for being such an awesome show! To anyone reading this, I beg you to help! I will co-write with you if you don't wanna write one on your own.

Please review, I really appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, but flames are not. They are not helpful to any author. Much love, fellow AB fans!

~Fantomo


	2. That Sinking Feeling

**Chapter Two: That Sinking Feeling**

"Yes, Astro, I'm here. What's wrong?" O'Shay instantly answered.

Astro shook his head, a puzzled look settling onto his face. "I think I dozed off. Nothing feels wrong and I checked for any malfunctioning circuits but couldn't find any. I don't really feel tired, but I slept in this morning and dozed off here on the couch. Why?"

Now it was O'Shay's turn to shake his head. "I wish I knew. I don't have an answer for you, I'm afraid. Would you like me to do a scan?"

"Better be on the safe side, I guess," the robot boy replied.

"Zoran, let Nora know that Astro and I will be at the Ministry. I don't know how long we'll be, so tell her to save dinner, okay?"

Zoran nodded, about to ask if she could come with, but O'Shay had already put his jacket and hat back on and had disappeared out the front door with Astro. "Bye…" she said belatedly in a small voice.

The Ministry of Science was always busy, no matter what time of day or night it happened to be. There were always humans working on projects and robots all over the place doing odd jobs; messengers, cleaners, assistants and other assorted worker-bots. The whole place was a hive of mostly-unorganised order. Astro barely paid any attention to the familiarity of his surroundings, focusing instead on following his foster father deeper into the building to where the necessary equipment to scan his body was.

A few, who were kind enough to spare a moment, gave the pair a quick wave or short greeting as they passed. Dr. O'Shay answered most of them distractedly while Astro returned every one in a slightly subdued manner. There was no conversation between foster father and son and it made Astro more anxious and tense than he already was. After what seemed like hours, the pair arrived at their destination. Dr. O'Shay opened the door and held it for Astro, who ducked under the scientist's arm and entered.

It was a rather small room for the huge building. The room was partially divided by an electronic counter covered in buttons. Beyond the counter was a small bed-like structure that resembled a table, just large enough to comfortably accommodate Astro. It was the same room Zoran had been brought to when a microscopic bug had invaded her system.

Without a word, Astro walked over to the examination table and hopped onto the side before lying down, holding his arms by his sides with his palms facing down.

Dr. O'Shay pressed a button and two metal bars extended from the sides of the table and came to rest horizontally just above the spiky tip of Astro's 'hair'. A cyan-coloured light appeared between the bars, a paper-thin vertical strip that covered the whole surface of the table like a permanent flash of sheet lightning. The bars moved slowly down the length of the table with a barely audible hum.

A screen appeared in front of Dr. O'Shay with an outline of Astro on it. As the scanning light moved over Astro's body, the image on the screen began to fill in with Astro's main skeleton. Once the light had reached the end of the table, it reversed course and started moving back up. The skeleton was slowly overlapped by an image of Astro's internal system, every wire and tiny mechanism.

O'Shay's nose was almost touching the screen as he looked for any abnormalities within Astro's operating system. Once the second scan was complete, a small alarm-like set of beeps was heard. O'Shay took a step or two back from the screen, his eyes a little wider than normal as a blanket of concern settled upon his shoulders. Once his eyes caught sight of what had caused the alarm, a small, confused frown crossed his face.

The diagnostic image of Astro's body had a flashing spot that was at Astro's chest, located right in the same spot as his electro-heart. Examining the readouts on the screen, O'Shay relaxed a bit.

Astro could not contain his curiosity any longer. "Did you find anything?" he asked, titling his head just far enough to allow him to see the short scientist.

The man didn't answer right away, pressing another button to make the scanning bars retract back into the sides of the table first. He walked over to the table and stood beside it, watching his robotic foster son as he sat up.

Astro stared at the doctor and, seeing the man's fairly relaxed expression, felt his body release the tension that had built up. He swung his legs over the edge of the table and let them dangle.

"There is something, but it's nothing too bad," O'Shay said with a smile.

Astro gave a tiny sigh of relief. "Okay, so what is it and how do we fix it?"

"You have a build-up of energy at your heart," he answered. He was about to continue but Astro interrupted him.

"Wait, if I have a build-up of energy, then why have I been tired? If I had extra energy, wouldn't I be more active?" he asked, brows furrowed in confusion.

At this question, Dr. O'Shay got an image in his head of a hyper Astro. He had seen what copious amounts of sugar and red cordial did to children; he dreaded to think of Astro being like that. At least human children were relatively harmless; Astro was a powerhouse capable of large-scale destruction.

He quickly shook his head, sending his large nose swinging. "No, because the energy isn't being used in any way, it's simply stored there. You were not built to store energy like that, so your body is coping as best it can; by making sure you don't tax yourself and cause the stored energy to fry you from the inside out," he said, warming up to this theory as he spoke.

"Oh, okay, I get it," Astro said, nodding a bit. "How do I get rid of the stored energy?"

The ageing scientist put a hand to his chin and gazed upwards in thought. "Since even _you_ didn't know it was there, I don't think you can access it, but it won't hurt to give it a try at least."

Astro nodded and closed his eyes so he could concentrate better. He could feel his energy flowing throughout his body, but he concentrated upon his chest. It took a few seconds, but Astro was able to feel the stored energy that was simply sitting there. He tried to access it, but could find no way to connect to the energy circling his electro-heart. He frowned.

"No go doctor, I can't find a way to connect to it," he said in a slightly disgruntled manner.

O'Shay hummed softly under his breath before speaking. "We'll have to think of another way to get rid of it, but I'm not sure how. Try not to use any of your powers in the meantime. I think the reason you were so tired the past two days is because of all the flying you've been doing."

Astro was disappointed with this temporary solution, but he knew it was for the best until the problem was fixed. He gave his word and hopped down from the table.

"Wait a sec," he said suddenly, grabbing O'Shay's nearest sleeve. "Why haven't I converted it into light like I did with the energy from Magnamite?"

"I don't know," he answered uneasily, "Your body should have converted it automatically." Dr. O'Shay looked worried once more, but hid it as best he could, determined not to upset Astro in any way.

Dr. O'Shay gave him a pat on the shoulder before both of them turned off the equipment and headed home. On the walk back through the Ministry, both of them responded to any greetings with more enthusiasm than the first time.

* * *

_Standing at the very edge of a wooden pier that jutted out over a pure, clear lake, Astro looked down at his reflection. The lake was surrounded by lush fields full of wild flowers which were ringed by mountains capped with snow. The whole area was like a scene from a wilderness photo in a calendar, minus the pier which seemed out of place._

_Astro's reflection stared back, his eyes perfectly mirroring his feelings for all to see. Anxiousness about the stored energy, fear of what it could do to him, and a strong flicker of hope that a permanent solution would be found very soon._

_A sense of calm pervaded the area. Astro couldn't help but smile as an irresistible wave of contentment washed over him, clearing away the fear and anxiousness. His reflection smiled back._

_Small, wispy clouds floated lazily overhead, happy to go wherever the wind guided them. It was a perfect spot to relax and just forget about life's troubles for a while. Astro, tired of standing, laid belly-down on the wooden pier, crossing his arms beneath his head and resting his chin upon them. His reflection appeared closer, and Astro could see through it a touch to the lakebed below. The little robot gave a happy sigh and closed his eyes, letting the sun soak into his artificial skin._

_It felt like a couple of hours had passed before Astro was rudely jolted from his nap by a sudden crash of thunder. A flash of lightning tore across the sky above him, the expanse of blue having been filled in with huge black clouds that loomed threateningly overhead. Another boom echoed through the air, rebounding off the mountains and making Astro scurry to his feet as he felt the pier tremble beneath him. Knowing that it was not a good idea to be near water with lightning about, Astro turned to run off the pier, not keen on flying and making a nice lightning rod target out of himself._

_He had only taken two steps before an ominous crack rang out from underneath his foot. A millisecond later, Astro felt himself start to fall as the wood broke. Quickly activating his jets, Astro flew up a couple of metres and watched as the rest of the pier crumbled into the waves that now surged over the surface of the lake. He knew he couldn't linger in the air, so he adjusted his body to send him forward and increased his jets' thrust._

_The edge of the lake was right in front of him and Astro prepared to deactivate his rockets when a white-hot flash of blinding agony coursed through him, causing a scream of pure pain to rip its way out of his mouth._

_Astro's senses were scrambled and he was barely aware that he was now in the lake, sinking swiftly. Darkness closed in over his eyes and Astro wasn't sure whether it was because he had sunk into the darker waters or if he was losing consciousness. Everything was black, and the last thing Astro knew was that he was still sinking._

* * *

The darkness was everywhere, surrounding him in its stifling embrace. Astro couldn't breathe - forgetting the fact that he didn't need to - and thrashed about in panic, feeling like a fly caught in an invisible spider web. As he was flailing about, he suddenly felt as though he was falling before hitting something with a thump a second later.

Trying to calm himself down, Astro took stock of his situation. A moment later he gave a short laugh. Astro had become completely entangled in his bed sheets when he had awoken and had panicked because of what he now realised was a dream. He had floundered about, further entangling himself, and had fallen off his bed. Chuckling, Astro carefully moved his body and the sheets until he was free. Holding them in one hand, Astro got up and made his bed after a quick glance at the clock told him it was a quarter to seven in the morning.

Once his bed was tidy, a frown fixed itself on Astro's face as snippets of the dream - more like a nightmare - came back to him. It made him feel unsettled, even though he knew it was no more than a silly dream. Delta, the police robot, had once told him that his imagination program was overactive. Astro wondered briefly if perhaps Delta had been right after all. He pushed the fast-fading images to the back of his mind and walked out of his room, down the stairs and stopped to top up his energy. When that was done, Astro went back upstairs to Dr. O'Shay's room.

The door slid open easily and Astro tiptoed inside until he stood in front of the slumbering scientist. Astro bent down until his face was only a few inches away the doctor's. Drawing a breath, Astro chirped, "Good morning Dr. O'Shay, time to get up!"

O'Shay was not expecting such a wakeup call. If he didn't get up in time on his own, Nora would rouse him. The man gave a surprised snort and leaned back a bit from the young male voice that sounded closer than normal. Opening his eyes, he rubbed a hand across them to dispel most of the blur from sleepiness. When he finally opened them properly, he gave a small start as he realised that Astro was right in front of him.

"Come on Dr. O'Shay, it's nearly seven," Astro said with a smile, feeling much happier for no apparent reason.

"Astro, it's good to see you up and about like usual," O'Shay said, smiling back. "Nearly seven did you say? I suppose I better get up then. Would you let Nora know that I'm awake?"

"Sure," Astro replied to the request. He left the doctor's room and practically bounded back downstairs. Reaching the kitchen, he found Nora setting out some things that she needed to make O'Shay's breakfast with.

Nora was examining the fridge and cupboards' contents, muttering to herself every now and then. "Oh dear, we're almost out of blackberry jam and honey," she said, making a mental memo to pick some up the next time she went shopping.

"Good morning Nora!" a cheerful voice said from behind her.

Nora let out an electronic gasp and whirled around, one of her swinging arms narrowly missing Astro's head. "Astro! Must you sneak up on me like that? Where are your manners?" Nora scolded.

"Right where they always are," Astro answered, blinking in confusion. "I did say 'good morning' you know."

Nora was about to reply but could think of nothing to say in response.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Astro said with an apologetic shrug. "I came to tell you that Dr. O'Shay's awake, so you don't have to worry about getting him up."

"Oh, well…thank you," Nora said slowly, trying to wrap her electronic brain around what was going on. Astro seemed much happier than he was yesterday, and even a little more cheerful than any other day. She hoped this meant he was feeling better from whatever had caused his tiredness.

Having finished his task, Astro strolled out of the kitchen and went back to his room. Once the door was shut, he went over to his window and sat on the sill, drawing his knees close to his chest and letting his arms loosely encircle his legs. The birds were busy twittering away, but Astro paid them no mind as he stared absently through the window; his eyes taking everything in, though also seeming to look beyond all of it to some unfathomable mystery that could not be seen in any spectrum.

To Astro, it felt as if a mere moment had passed before Zoran's voice broke him from his trance-like state.

"Can we go shopping today?"

Astro gave a soft sigh as his _enthusiastic_ sister noisily bounced down the stairs, presumably headed for Nora, ready to nag the nanny-bot until they left for the shops. Astro couldn't hear Nora's reply, but the final say belonged to Dr. O'Shay. Since there was no school today, Astro could easily imagine what the good doctor would say. Hearing the doctor's footsteps pass his door, the little robot got up and followed a short distance behind.

O'Shay was sitting on the lounge, eyeing a cup of coffee that Nora was setting down on the coffee table in front of him. Zoran was standing behind the couch, eyeing the man like he was staring at his coffee, and was bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet. Nora was trying her hardest to ignore the bubbly robot girl. None of the three noticed Astro standing in the doorway.

"Dr. O'Shay, hey, Dr. O'Shay!"

The balding scientist gave a barely perceptible sigh that Astro's sensitive hearing only just picked up. His fingers stopped an inch away from his cup's handle and twitched once before traversing the last inch and curling firmly around the handle. He slowly brought the cup to his lips and took a grateful sip of the addictive hot liquid before slowly lowering the cup and placing it back on the table.

Zoran's expression easily gave away how annoyed she was at this delay, and Astro quickly ducked out of the doorway, leaning his back against the wall and clapping both hands over his mouth to stop himself from bursting out laughing.

When his silent laughing fit finally died out, Astro frowned, wondering why he had found it so funny. Shaking his head, Astro walked into the room and sat beside the doctor, tossing a greeting to Zoran as he did so.

"Good morning big brother," Zoran chirped as her annoyance instantly washed away.

"So, Zoran, what is it you wanted?" O'Shay asked after a few more sips of coffee.

Zoran immediately turned a bright smile on the doctor and struck a cute, girly pose while fluttering her eyelashes. "Oh, Dr. O'Shay, can we go shopping?"

O'Shay blinked. "Shopping?" he parroted in a slightly exasperated tone.

"Yeah, a couple of new stores just opened and I wanna check them out," she gushed, bouncing on her feet again.

"Didn't you already spend your allowance?" Astro half asked, half stated, putting his hands behind his head and sinking into the couch a bit.

Zoran sent a quick glare over the back of the couch to the top of Astro's head, but deigned to answer. "Please?" she begged, turning her gaze back to the scientist.

"I'm sorry Zoran, but I have to finish off some paperwork," he said, looking resigned. His expression brightened a moment later. "Although that foot-tall stack of papers isn't going anywhere…"

A short buzzing beep rang out from above the three and they automatically looked up to see the TV coming down from its place in the ceiling. Once it came to a stop, the screen flickered to life to show Yuko. O'Shay's secretary focused her gaze on the balding man after flashing a quick smile to the robotic children.

"Ah, Yuko, hello," O'Shay said, eyeing the screen with a tinge of apprehension. "Why are you calling so early? I haven't even had breakfast yet."

"I just wanted to make sure you were up and about so you could get a nice, early start on your paperwork, sir," Yuko said, sporting a smug grin that she was trying to hide behind a mask of innocence.

O'Shay looked upset at this. "But, Yuko, what about shopping?" he asked in a last-ditch effort to escape the mountain of paper that awaited him at his office.

"Shopping?" she repeated in bewilderment.

"Yes, I was going to take Zoran as there are some new stores she wants to see."

Yuko raised an eyebrow at the doctor. Her gaze flicked to Astro just long enough to catch the silent plea his eyes were sending her: _please_ don't make me go shopping with my little sister!

"There's nothing stopping you from going," she said, and O'Shay perked up, "after you finish your paperwork," she finished, and O'Shay's hope died a swift but agonising death.

"But-"

"I'm sorry, sir, but no 'buts'," she sternly replied. "You need to come here and get your work done. _I'll_ take Zoran shopping."

Zoran's face split into a wide smile at the other female's announcement, while O'Shay adopted a defeated air. Astro gave Yuko a relieved and grateful smile, silently vowing to give the woman a big hug when he saw her next.

"Well, I suppose there's nothing wrong with that," O'Shay conceded. "I'd feel a lot better if Astro went along with you though, just in case."

It took all of Astro's willpower to stop his bottom jaw from dropping. Yuko had done a wonderful job of getting him out of the whole thing, and his foster father had simply tossed him right into the middle. His sudden horror was broken by Nora, who hovered opposite him and the doctor with a plate in her three-fingered hands. She set it down next to the half empty cup and floated away to wash up the things she had used to make breakfast.

O'Shay picked up his cutlery and set about eating his breakfast, oblivious to how still and silent Astro had become beside him. Yuko stared at the stunned robot, stuttering incoherently as she tried to figure out a way to excuse Astro from accompanying them. She could think of no viable reason, however, and her shoulders sagged in sympathy for Astro as she was forced to admit defeat on the matter.

"Bring them both with you to the Ministry and I'll take them from there, so I know you're there at the building. I'll meet you in your office," Yuko huffed, cutting the transmission suddenly.

O'Shay blinked, not altogether sure about what had happened. Turning his attention to more important matters, the man ate another morsel of food.

"Yay!" Zoran cheered loudly, prompting a groan from Astro.

* * *

**A/N:** Due to a severe prod by **Butterflyaura**, I worked on nothing but this chapter for over a week! Aren't you proud of my speedy update? (Seriously, this was really fast for me! I'm naturally a first-gear person!)

Just a note, but I absolutely loathe coffee. I seriously cannot stand the stuff, even the smell of it makes me queasy. O'Shay's coffee scene was rather hard for me to write. I hope you all appreciate it!

Did you like the dream? Yes, it means something, but I can't tell you what as that would be spoiling things… I'll leave you to ponder it yourselves. I'd love to hear your theories!

**NOTE:** If you want to know when the next chapter is coming out, head to my profile and scroll down until you find the section '**Story Updates**'. I'll have my current progress posted there and I update it regularly.

~FantomoDrako


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